This book is a condensation of the entire position of the
Bhagavadgita gospel. The Bhagavadgita is a gospel for humanity of
all times, as a general directive to spiritual development and realisation. It
is particularly of value to the present-day world which is anxiety-ridden and
tension-torn in almost every walk of life. The Bhagavadgita is the answer
of the Infinite to the calls of the finite. It reflects solutions not only to
the conditions of man on earth but of situations in the universe as a whole. The
Bhagavadgita is a textbook not of any religion but of religion as
such, the voice of the higher consciousness which unfolds itself into the
Absolute. In this production are involved the efforts of Sri Swami
Yogaswarupanandaji, Vice-President of the The Divine Life Society.

O Mother Gita, I meditate on Thee, because it was the Supreme Lord Himself
who spiritually transmitted Thy teachings through His lotus-like lips to Arjuna
in the midst of the battlefield of the Mahabharata War. I also meditate on the
great Sage Vyasa, the supreme intellect, the author of the great scripture, the
Mahabharata, which is also called the Panchama-Veda (the fifth Veda), for
it contains the supreme wisdom to humanity. I prostrate myself before you, O
noble Sage; due to your oneness with the cosmic intelligence, you were able to
absorb the teachings of the Lord. The Mahabharata is like the oil in the lamp of
the heart. You have lighted this lamp with the wisdom of the Gita and thus
helped people to overcome their day-to-day problems and the darkness of
ignorance. My salutations to you, O Sage, for you have beautifully narrated the
variegated functions of the human mind by means of the different characters, who
acted under the different circumstances in the great scripture, the Mahabharata,
which is also called a ‘Yoga Sastra’, for, it teaches the individual the way to
unite itself with the Universal. You have compared the Pandava side to the
higher mind and the Kaurava side to the lower mind in the Mahabharata War.

In the river of the Mahabharata battle Bhishma and Drona form the two strong
protective banks, difficult to cross over. These two were invincible warriors to
whom Arjuna was terribly attached and this is what made him dejected and
reluctant to perform his duty in the war. Likewise, O Sage, you have taught that
attachment is a great obstacle in the spiritual path. King Jayadratha brought
the death of Arjuna’s son, Abhimanyu, by unfair means and became the centre of a
great fury in the war. So the waters of the river of Mahabharata War are
compared to this evil king. Sakuni, the maternal uncle of Duryodhana and his
brothers, who won the game of dice by fraudulent means, is compared to a huge
blue water-lily lying on the surface of the river, tempting the eye and thus
making one unwary of the dangers in the river. Shalya is like a powerful shark
in the waters, hard to encounter. Kripacharya is the strong current of the
river, for his valour spurred the forces constantly like a rushing current.
Karna who was proud because he had mastery over the science of archery is like a
high wave in the waters of the river, which rises up as if in pride and
self-will. With a spirit of retaliation Asvatthama and Vikarna killed many in
the Pandava army by unlawful means and so they are the crocodiles swallowing
their victims in the river. Like a whirlpool (in the river of battle) directing
all the flow of water to its motion, Duryodhana, because of greed for wealth,
power and position, employed various treacherous ways to destroy the Pandavas.
You have taught that desire for wealth, power and position ruins one’s life
altogether. You have revealed to the world that only by constant remembrance of
God and His glories and by the complete surrender of self to the Almighty as did
the Pandava brothers to Lord Sri Krishna, people can overcome conflicts in their
life and cross the ocean of Samsara, i.e., cycle of births and deaths. As the
Pandava brothers crossed the river of the Mahabharata War with the help of Sri
Krishna as their helmsman, bless me with a pure mind and intellect and enable me
to pray and surrender myself to Lord Sri Krishna at all times, to cross beyond
the darkness of ignorance to the Light of Immortality.

I prostrate myself before Thee, O Lord Krishna, son of Vasudeva and Devaki,
the joy of the Gopis of Vrindavan. O Lord! just as men get their wishes
fulfilled when they go under the shade of the celestial Parijata tree, Thou hast
dispelled the miseries of the Pandavas and others who took shelter under Thy
lotus-like feet and made them desireless and immortal.

I meditate on Thee, O Supreme Lord, in the form of the charioteer to Arjuna
in the midst of two armies, holding the whip in one hand and imparting the
divine wisdom to Arjuna with the symbol of knowledge (Jnana-mudra) in the other
hand. In this symbol, the middle, ring and little fingers are held straight and
close together. These represent the three modes of Nature (Prakriti); viz.,
Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. The index finger which represents the individual soul
is bent towards the thumb, which represents the Supreme Brahman, and touches it.
When the individual soul stands aloof from the three Gunas, it attains union
with Brahman.

My salutations to Thee, Lord Krishna, the world teacher, the destroyer of
evil and protector of righteous people. My prostrations to Thee, O Madhava, the
source of supreme bliss; Thou alone canst make the dumb man eloquent and the
cripple cross the mountains. With Thy Grace nothing is impossible.

O Lord, like a cowherd boy Thou hast milked the entire essence of wisdom from
the cows of the Upanishads for the benefit of Arjuna, the calf, and for those
with devoted and purified intellects.

O Lord, I surrender myself to Thee, who art worshipped by all the gods
including Brahma, through the chanting of the Vedas, to invoke Thy Grace, and to
receive their respective powers. The Yogins realise Thee when their mind gets
absorbed in Thee through deep meditation. Thy real nature is not known either to
the gods who live in heaven or to the demons in the nether regions, because Thou
art the source of all. I offer my prostrations to Thee.

O Lord, Thou hast lived as a personal example and taught the technique to
merge in Thee in the form of the Gita bestowed upon humanity. Kindly bless me
with that sharp intellect through which to grasp Thy teachings and merge in
Thee.

O Mother Gita! I meditate on Thee. Guide my intellect and mind to lead the
Gita-way-of-life and to attain God-consciousness for ever and ever. OM.

Dhritarashtra and Pandu were brothers. Dhritarashtra married Gandhari, and
Pandu married two wives, viz., Kunti and Madri. King Pandu was cursed for a sin,
while hunting, due to which he was not permitted to unite with his wife. Kunti
got a boon through her sincere service to a wise sage in her younger age and she
begot three children, namely Yudhishthira, Bhima and Arjuna respectively, from
Yama, Vayu and Indra. Madri had twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, through the
celestial physicians called Asvini-Devatas. Dhritarashtra had one hundred and
one children by his wife Gandhari. Pandu passed away and his sons, the Pandavas,
were brought up by Dhritarashtra along with his sons known as Kauravas. The
Pandavas and Kauravas grew up together, but due to the braveness and
intelligence of the former, the Kauravas were unable to tolerate them. Hence,
the Pandavas decided to live separately, sharing half of their kingdom.

The Pandavas’ pomp, wealth and glory displayed during the Rajasuya Yajna
aroused deep jealousy and greed in the mind of Duryodhana, the chief of the
Kauravas; who, with the cunning advice of his uncle Sakuni, invited Yudhishthira
to a game of dice and fraudulently defeated him, whereby all his wealth and
possessions, including Draupadi, were lost. Finally, it was settled that the
Pandavas, including Draupadi, should repair to the forest for twelve years in
exile, after which they had to live incognito for another year, untraced by the
Kauravas. During this period the kingdom was to be ruled by Duryodhana.

Having successfully completed these thirteen years, facing many obstacles and
dangers caused by the Kauravas, the Pandavas, as per the terms of the agreement,
approached the Kauravas for their share of the kingdom. Duryodhana, however,
flatly refused to give them even as much land as can be covered by the point of
a needle. According to the advice of mother Kunti and by the inspiration of Lord
Krishna, the Pandavas decided upon war and tried to establish their rightful
claim on the kingdom by overcoming the Kauravas.

Duryodhana and Arjuna from the side of the Kauravas and Pandavas respectively
were sent to Dvaraka to seek the help of the Yadava hero, Lord Krishna, in the
battle. They both found Krishna resting on a couch in his palace, and Duryodhana
went in and occupied a nice seat at the head of the couch, while Arjuna stood
near the feet of the Lord. The moment Sri Krishna opened his eyes he naturally
saw Arjuna and then he saw Duryodhana sitting on a chair, at the head of the
couch. After enquiry of their welfare and the purpose of their visit, Sri
Krishna, according to the prevailing custom, gave the first chance of choice to
Arjuna because of his young age, and also because of his first vision on Arjuna.
Krishna asked Arjuna to fulfil his desire in selection either of unarmed Krishna
or his entire powerful army called Narayani Sena. Arjuna, who was a
devotee of Sri Krishna, expressed his desire to have Krishna with him,
neglecting the powerful Narayani Sena, even though Krishna had warned
that he would remain a witness, bound by the vow of not participating in battle
and not taking up arms. Duryodhana with great delight, thinking that Arjuna was
foolish, expressed his desire for the powerful Narayani Sena to help his
side in the battle, and returned to Hastinapura.

When Krishna asked Arjuna why he chose him, when he was not for taking up
arms, Arjuna said, "O Lord! You have the power to destroy all the forces by a
mere sight. Why, then, should I prefer that worthless army? I have for a long
time been cherishing a desire in my heart that you should act as my charioteer.
Kindly fulfil my desire in this war." The Lord who is ever the most devoted
lover of his devotees accepted this request with pleasure and thus Krishna
became the charioteer of Arjuna in the battle of the Mahabharata.

After the return of Duryodhana and Arjuna from Dvaraka, Lord Krishna himself
went once to Hastinapura as the emissary of the Pandavas and tried to prevent
the war. But then, under the guidance of Sakuni, the egoistic Duryodhana refused
to agree to the peace mission and tried to imprison Lord Krishna, at which
Krishna showed his Supreme Form (visvarupa). Even the blind Dhritarashtra
saw it by the Lord’s Grace. The blind King Dhritarashtra, due to his attachment
to his sons, failed to control them, and the Kaurava chief, Duryodhana, with
vain hope, decided to meet the powerful Pandavas in the war.

When both sides were prepared to commence the battle, the sage Vedavyasa
approached blind Dhritarashtra and said, ‘If you wish to see this terrible
carnage with your own eyes, I can give you a gift of vision.’ The Kaurava King
replied, O chief of Brahmarshis! I have no desire to see with my own eyes this
slaughter of my family, but I should like to hear all the details of the
battle.’ Then the sage conferred the gift of divine vision on Sanjaya (Dhritarashtra’s
trusted counsellor) and told the king, "Sanjaya will describe to you all the
incidents of the war. Whatever happens in the course of the war, he will
directly see, hear or otherwise come to know. Whether an incident takes place
before his eyes or behind his back during the day or night, privately or in
public, and whether it is reduced to actual action or appears only in thought,
it will not remain hidden from his view. He will come to know everything,
exactly as it happens. Neither weapon will touch his body nor will he feel
tiresome. Finally, the victory will be for righteousness."

After the ten days of continued war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas,
when the great warrior Bhishma was thrown down from his chariot by Arjuna,
Sanjaya announces the news to Dhritarashtra. The blind king, in agony, asks
Sanjaya to narrate the full details of the previous ten days’ war, from the very
beginning, in all detail, as it happened. Here commences the Bhagavadgita.

Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya with an ego-conscious mind, blinded with
selfishness and eagerness, what his people and the sons of Pandu assembled
together in Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra, eager for battle, do. The land is called
Dharmakshetra, because the field where they assembled for battle is the place
where celestials like Agni, Indra and Brahma performed their austerities. It is
also called Kurukshetra, where King Kuru, the ancestor of the Kauravas, also
performed severe austerities. It was observed that whoever leaves his life in
this land during a righteous war will go to heaven, and so it was selected for
the purpose of the battle. Then Sanjaya says: Duryodhana, the ruling king of the
Kauravas, saw the Pandavas’ army, which, though small in number when compared to
that of the Kauravas, was arranged in such a way that it seemed bigger.
Duryodhana, moving proudly towards his teacher, Drona’s side, controlling his
inner fearful attitude, as he had to fight with the righteous Pandavas, excited
the great leader into a revengeful attitude by reminding him of his past enmity
with Drupada, whose son was leading the Pandava army. He also mentions this to
encourage Drona, because he knows the powerful strength of Krishna, Arjuna,
Bhima, etc., and of other powerful warriors on the side of the Pandavas. He knew
that he was on the wrong side (Adharma) and in order to encourage his
army-chief, Bhishma, ordered all others to protect him from all sides.

The family-chief as well as army-chief Bhishma blows his conch as a sign to
commence the war and all others follow him and produce tremendous sounds by
conches, kettledrums, tabors and cow-horns from the Kaurava side. Then, from the
side of the Pandavas the Lord Krishna and Arjuna seated on a big, well-decorated
chariot (with a Hanuman flag on top, from which Hanuman, son of Vayu,
promised help), yoked with white horses, symbolising purity in all respects, and
the other Pandavas blew their celestial and powerful conches as a challenging
reply to the Kauravas, with which the sky and earth produced echoes and
terrified the hearts of the Kaurava army as a whole.

On seeing the sons of Dhritarashtra arrayed for battle, Arjuna requests Sri
Krishna to place his chariot between the two armies, in order to see the
warriors. Krishna places the chariot where Bhishma, Drona and other great
warriors were standing. On seeing his teachers, kith and kin, the evil of war
explained by Vidura came to his memory. Sakuni thought of a cunning plan to
discourage the hearts of the Pandavas and asked Vidura (who was very sincere and
respectful to the Pandavas) to go to the good brothers and point out the
undesirable results of the war, such as accumulation of sins in killing their
own teachers and relatives, all the women of the country losing their husbands,
due to which unrighteousness will dominate the land, loss of the country’s
wealth and property, killing of harmless animals like elephants, horses, etc.
Due to this advice, Arjuna refuses to fight, stricken with grief.

Arjuna, instead of speaking about his desire to rule the kingdom without
killing his own teachers and relatives, tells Krishna, forgetting his own royal
duty, about the disability of his body to hold even the gandiva bow, and
other bad omens foreboding failure in the battle. In fear of killing his own
teachers, with anxiety, unconscious of the power of Krishna, Arjuna talks like a
wise man, about the evil consequences of war, and says that he wants neither
pleasure after killing his own relatives and Gurus nor even the three worlds to
rule as a result of war. He concludes that even if, by attachment, the Kauravas
are to kill him, it would be better than the enjoyment of kingdom after the
death of all relatives. With delusion and grief, forgetting the Omniscient power
of Krishna, he argues that due to destruction of family the immemorial religious
rites will perish, the women in families will become corrupt, with which
confusion of castes that follows will lead to hell the slayers of the families.
Arjuna decides that it would be desirable that the Kauravas kill him in the
battle while he is standing unarmed and unresisting. Thus, having expressed his
inability, laden with sorrow, Arjuna sat on the chariot, casting down his bow
and arrows.

This chapter teaches humanity that:

When the mind is blinded with affection and selfishness, as with
Dhritarashtra, man will never bother about the welfare of others in the nation,
which in result would ruin his own kith and kin as well as the whole nation.

When the mind is clouded with pride, jealousy, greed, crookedness, ego,
desire for fame, name and power, as with Duryodhana, man will not hesitate to
destroy his own friends and relatives as well as the nation, which in the end
results in his own destruction. When man fails to do his own duty due to
attachment and desire, like Arjuna, he cannot utilise his own strength and
courage, or feel the presence of God, even though the God is seated before him
and ready to help him as Krishna.

When man is sincere, devoted to God, faithful to his master, desireless, and
treats friends and foes alike, like Sanjaya, he will have peace of mind, and see
the cosmic form of the Almighty.

This chapter explains that duality is the root cause of the suffering of
humanity. All the suffering of Arjuna explained above is the result of a
dualistic character in his personality, viz., disharmony between his mind and
heart, thought and feeling. The mind of Arjuna insists on performing the duty as
a Kshatriya, to destroy the unrighteous enemy. The heart craves for love and
wants to protect the relatives and preceptors from destruction. This internal
disharmony created an imbalance between his physical, mental, intellectual,
moral and spiritual levels.

Thus ends the First Chapter entitled ‘The Yoga of the Despondency of Arjuna’.